Election Day night in my home town
I've been involved in local politics in my little town (pop. 17,000) in northeastern NJ for about 25 years and have held local office as a Democrat for two terms. The Democrats in my town have a tradition that I would not miss for anything. Every election night the Democratic candidates, members of the Democratic Club, supporters, families and friends gather at the local Elks Lodge where we use their hall that holds about 175 people. Some years it is very crowded, others less so, but always there is the comaraderie of seeing old friends, office holders past and present. No one needs to be told to go there but about 7:30 pm they start to trickle in. There is a lot of small talk about families, health, sports, and of course, "whaddya think" political discussions.
Soon the hall begins to fill as those doing GOTV at doors and on the phones or driving voters to the polls finish their duties and begin to arrive about 15 minutes before the polls close. Then we know it will be only a short time and tensions begin to build, nervous laughter filling the room.
On the wall is a large manilla poster with boxes drawn on it for each election district in our town (11), waiting for the results. When the polls close I usually man the board (the Dems say they are "lucky" when I do it), armed with a calculator and a marking pen.
Then we wait. The room usually falls almost silent as we wait for Dem Club "runners" from each polling place to arrive. In the 15-20 minutes it usually takes for them to arrive from the polls to the Elks it seems like an eternity and the discussions are muted, all eyes constantly darting to the doors when anyone enters to see if results are there.
At the polls the runners each have paper and pen and when voting ends and the machines shut down they print out the results for each voting machine and publicly announce them before those results are taking to the municipal clerk for official filing. They do not even wait for our official copies from the machines but run to their cars and get to the Elks as quickly as possible. We don't have them call in the results by phone because that has led to errors in the past. While all this is going on someone calls the County Clerk to try to get the absentee totals, which aren't always available immediately on closing the polls but sometimes are in more quickly than the machine vote.
Then, when the first runner comes through the door the room falls totally silent. Sometimes they smile a bit to hint the results, sometimes not, but they go strait to my table and hand me their tallies. Another person then reads the results off to me and I mark it in the box for that particular district.
Many don't know what to make of the numbers as they come in. Some districts are more Republican and some more Democratic and it causes a great deal of confusion for those who don't know which is which - but, doe to all the years I have been doing this I usually know immediately who won the election when the first district is reported if it is one sided. Sometimes I don't know if it is a cliff hanger (my town swings back and forth between Dems and Repubs). Soon, however, usually when about half the vote is in, even the unitiated can begin to see the pattern. If it is a loss we remain fairly quiet, lick our wounds and thank everyone who helped out. But if it is a victory an amazing thing happens - the room suddenly fills to the brim with people who only seem to turn out when you win, and the party begins in earnest.
Of course, for state and national results there are always televisions on the walls with people gathered around them waiting for those results as well.
I've been there for wins and losses and highly recommend it for any of you as a very good way to receive election results. The drama is high and the excitement palpable. I recommend that you contact your local Democratic Club or Party and find out where they gather on election night. This kind of thing I am certain occurs across the country. I would never in a million years spend election night at home looking at the television alone when I can spend it among friends and fellow Democrats, whether it be sharing cheers or tears.
So tonight, long before the polls close, when darkness falls, I will begin getting very nervous, pacing and waiting for time to leave the house to drive down to the Elks. In the meantime I will be making GOTV calls and helping out wherever needed. Otherwise I would be a nervous wreck by dark.
Try it. You will like it.
A little something from the boss for my home town.
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